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Sustainability Talk

Composting

Compost is the result of microbes acting on and changing organic material from one form to another, creating nutrients for plants. When organic material breaks down, not transformed into nutrient, it is decomposing.

Composting cuts greenhouse gas emissions. Organic material decomposing anaerobically in landfills creates half its weight in methane. Methane is twenty-three times as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2. (By the way when your home compost goes anaerobic and smells bad, you're creating greenhouse gasses).

Organic matter composted aerobically creates nutrients for the soil and no methane. How cool is that! Shouldn’t we be composting as much as possible?

So called "compostable" plastic is acted on by microbes to "neutralize the plastic" and make it "less harmful to the environment." Decomposable plastics are great if you’re in the habit of throwing your trash out the car window. Rather than continue to hang from a tree limb, it’s nice that the bag breaks down. What's left behind, however, is lots of tiny bits of plastic.